A Bundle of Nerves

I'm not quite sure who reads this blog. So far, I think I'm the only one who reads it...and I'm the AUTHOR. But to anyone looking to study abroad, never, ever, EVER read random review websites about studying abroad. You'll psyche yourself out. I'm dead serious. Review sites tend to only give you the few, rare, dreadfully horror stories about studying abroad. They tend to skip over the hundreds of thousands of happy stories coming from students with amazing experiences abroad. And with my over active imagination, I tend to visualize the worst case scenarios and work myself up over nothing. But the biggest thing I am the most terrified of happening? Switching host families. The pure concept makes me shake. Having just gotten my host family, I already love them and can imagine all the great experiences I might experience with them. And I hope they like me. I'm just scared that when I get there I might do something wrong or upset them that causes me to get a switch. Not that I think that's going to happen. That's just the nerves talking. Right now, my host sisters and I have been facebooking each other nonstop, making me count down the days till when I get to meet them face to face. I feel so blessed to have been placed with such a great host family. I just think that with Italy being so close, my brain has finally realized that this is a reality, causing it to realize just how long I am going to be away from home. All the people I'm going to miss. And now my mind is playing tricks on me, making me doubt myself. >.< stupid brain! Be good! Anyways, I AM actually really really excited about studying abroad. My town's amazing, the school seems great, and my family is perfecto. I really couldn't ask for a better placement. So bad thought be gone! And make room for a semester of life long memories. ;D Ciao!

La Vita è Bella

Jacki

Fun times with Skype

So, as many already know, I have a host family! And today, I actually got to TALK to them! :D! How crazy is that? So, today after church, I finally sent a couple facebook messages to my host sisters, as well as an email to my host parents. I didn't expect any response right away, but to my pleasant surprise, I got an email back from one of my host sisters within minutes! i was so shocked I had to check my phone screen a couple times to see if I read it right. But sure enough, right there in black and white, was a response! I think I scared my little sister by shrieking. Ooops. :P  I feel kinda bad, I was asking her so many questions, and in english no less! I was kinda of afraid to speak to her italian, afraid that I might make a big mistake or something. Let me warn you now, just because you took the language in school does NOT mean you will be prepared be detailed conversations in that language. I am going into my 5th year of studying Italian and I have to say, I have absolutely NO idea what my host family is saying half the time. And I am still in America! God, when I go to Italy, am I going to have just as a hard time speaking in Italian? Hopefully the Rosetta Stone course I have to take and talking to my host family will help! After all, I don't want to be completely clueless when I get to Italy!

Ok, so back to my conversation. My host sister and I chatted for a bit, asking each other questions. I learned that Italain teen have the basically same style as Americans, they're just a bit more put together, which is comforting, to say the least! I also learned that she and her sister are pretty athletic. She plays vollyball 3 times a week at the towns local sports center and her older sister does athletics, the italian equivalent of track and field. Maybe I can do a sport after school, like my host sisters! They told me that there are dance classes in Montebelluna. If I could take a dance class in Italy, I would be so happy! I have been dancing for 13 years now. I have taken classes in jazz, tap, modern, ballet, and street funk. In December I am going to start going into New York City at the Broadway Dance Center, I am so excited! Just to dance abroad would be...amazing.

Montebelluna is located in Northern Italy, in the province of Treviso, in the Veneto region.                                                        I wonder if I should learn how to ski. :)

Che bella, no?

Those mountains....gosh, isn't it breathtaking?

Today, it just occurred to me that this is actually happening. It's not some fantasy I'm holding onto, or a dream that I'm about to wake up from. No, it's REAL. I am going to become a part of the italian culture, I'm going to study in Italy, I'm going to be exploring what the world has to offer me on my own. I feel like when I step on that plane bound for Rome, I will be letting go of so many things. The safe haven of my family and the town I have spent nearly 17 year growing up in. Familiar faces. And yet, I will be embracing so many things at the same time. Independence. Responsibility. A huge culture shock. Friendships I hope to keep for a life time. For most teenagers, their lives start when they turn 18, get that driver's license, and go to college. For me, I am going to be freshly 17, just a junior in high school in a small town in New Jersey, and I'll be in Italy experiencing the biggest and most fulling challenge of my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

La Vita è Bella

Jacki

Montebelluna.....

*Sigh* I just want to repeat a thousand times. It just sounds like a dream. What's Montebelluna you might ask? Well, it just so happens to be where I'll be spending my second semester abroad!!!!!!!!! :D yes, I have received my host family placement! Now, out of respect for my host family, I won't be mentioning their last name in this blog in an attempt for privacy for themselves, as I do not know yet if I have permission to mention it by the family. I will say this though, I will be staying with a wonderful family of 5, which includes two younger host sisters for me, who are 16 and 14, right around my age! I couldn't ask for a better placement. Their town seems lovely and different. Located in northern Italy, I'm sure to learn a lot. The best part is that both of my host parents are teachers, which hopefully means that learning Italian will be easier with two people who are so qualified to help teach one what she needs to know.

Righ now I am so excited, I am shaking. Some of that is probably nerves as well. I mean, it's all starting to come together. I'm going to Italy. It seems almost impossible. Is this really my life? Do I really get to live out this fantasy of mine? It's hard to believe that just a year ago, I had never even heard about the AFS program, and now it's preparing to help me embark on this new chapter in my life. And I can't wait to rise to the occasion. To emerse myself in this other culture. I know that it's going to be tough and sometimes I'm going to miss home so much I might want to cry; but to me, it's all worth it to experience this new adventure. I know I will grow so much as a person while in Italy and I am so excited to see what kind of person I will become from this experience. I just know it'll be someone amazing.

La Vita è bella

Till next time!

Jacki